The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

I've just completed a most beautiful literary journey. It's as though I myself am now returning from the 1930s town of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. What a world James McBride has created! Winner of many accolades including the National Book Award, this book is full of the most delightfully fleshed out characters- each and every one. McBride does not hesitate to give his readers a quick side story about just about all of his cast of characters. It works precisely because his writing is lyric and lovely. There is xenophobia here-and nationalism- all as a precursor to World War II- but there is also human kindness and generosity and the understanding that we are all the same. Our wants and fears and dreams- our humanity binds us together. It is heartbreaking and heartwarming. This writer is a master storyteller. If character driven novels are your thing- this book is for you.